Air France Expands ‘Dedicate’ to Three New Destinations

24th Jun 2004

As part of its ongoing global
expansion, Air France is enhancing its successful Dedicate program, with
new service to Doha (Qatar), Kuwait and Tashkent (Uzbekistan). The
Dedicate custom-designed program features scheduled routes and non-stop
flights to some of the world’s more remote destinations, simplifying
travel to construction and production sites and other major areas of
economic activity.
Air France launched Dedicate in January 2004 with flights to Malabo
(Equatorial Guinea) and Pointe Noire (Republic of the Congo). Pointe Noire
is in high demand as the first non-stop flight out of Europe. Demand for
Malabo is steadily increasing as well. Approximately ten new destinations
are anticipated in 2005. Scheduled to fly from Paris-Charles de Gaulle,
Europe’s leading hub, Dedicate-branded routes connect these destinations
to the global Air France and SkyTeam alliance network.

Effective June 14, 2004, Air France is adding a third weekly flight on the
Paris-Pointe Noire route. The carrier will continue to operate two weekly
flights to Malabo, but the schedule has been adjusted to better meet
customers’ needs. Departure and arrival times in Malabo are designed to
facilitate connections and allow time for teams to rotate and debrief on
production sites.

Also effective June 14, Air France is now operating its own A319 ER
(Extended Range) aircraft, specially designed and configured to serve
Dedicate destinations. The A319 ER is designed with two cabins, offering a
total of 82 seats, including 28 in l’Espace Affaires (business class) and
54 in Tempo (economy class). Two aircraft were delivered in June 2004.
Three additional aircraft are scheduled to join the Dedicate fleet between
now and 2005.

“The rationale behind Dedicate is to enable a niche market of
professionals to gain efficiency, speed and comfort in their trips to
production sites,” explained Bruno Matheu, Senior Vice President,
Marketing and Network Management with Air France. “Dedicate customers can
benefit from all the traditional services of a major airline combined with
the standards of private business travel.”

Matheu believes Dedicate owes its success to its flight schedule,
including the frequencies and timetables, and its cabin configuration, all
of which has been designed with corporate needs in mind.

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Dedicate completes the Air France network of “oil and gas” destinations,
such as Aberdeen, Caracas, Dubai, Houston, Luanda, Lagos, Port Harcourt,
Riyadh, Tehran and many more.

Along with Dedicate, Air France customers also benefit from the Petroleum
Club that was launched almost 10 years ago to offer unique and exclusive
services for the specific needs of frequent travelers in the oil and gas
industry. Membership is free of charge. For more information, log on to
http://www.airfrance.com/, select the Frequent Flyer section and then
click on “Petroleum Club.” ——-